Local legislators favor law requiring parent notification on teen abortions

State legislators hope to ask voters through referendum whether
the state Constitution should be amended to require parental
notification for minors to have abortions.

The move comes in the wake of the 4-2 state Supreme Court
decision last summer which annulled state parental notification
legislation signed into law by Gov. Christine Whitman last
year.

State Assemblyman Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon, said amending the
state Constitution on this issue would put it more in line with
rulings at the federal level, noting the U.S. Supreme Court said
there can be parental notification if there is judicial
bypass.

Under judicial bypass, a minor can seek permission from a judge
who can allow her to have the procedure without notifying a
parent.

"I voted for the original legislation and I'd vote to put it on
the ballot and have the public decide whether this should be
permitted," Lance said.

Under the legislation passed into law in 1999, at least one
parent had to be notified before the juvenile could get an
abortion.

"I think parents should be notified of medical decisions
involving their children. I'm actually pro-choice but I think that
at least one parent should be notified," Lance said. "If the
daughter decides she can't go to her parents, she can go to a
judge."

The constitutional amendment would say that the Legislature may
pass laws requiring parents to approve any medical procedure and
would allow for a judicial bypass.

Lance said the referendum proposal will be ready before the end
of this year.

After passage by the Assembly Monday, the legislation will now
be addressed by the Senate.

To be placed on the ballot, it would either require a super
majority in one year, involving 60 percent approval, or a simple
majority over two years.

If the voters allow it to go back to the Legislature, they'd
likely vote to over rule the state Supreme Court, he
said.

Says Parental Notification Is Common Sense

Assemblywoman Connie Myers, R-Hunterdon, said she strongly
favored putting the issue before the voters, noting parents are
legally responsible for everything else involving their underage
children.

"I'm always in favor of putting this to a vote," she said. "It's
a common sense kind of thing. If you need permission to pierce an
ear or pull a tooth, it makes sense to get permission to get an
abortion. I think parents should be there.

Opponents cite the possibility that the daughter will be
endangered if they tell their parents they are pregnant, but if
that is the case the minor has the right to take her case to a
judge, Myers said.

"It (parental notification) strengthens the family. We've got to
stop passing laws that punish good families for the few families
that aren't," the assemblywoman said.

As for the argument that girls will get abortions out of state
to bypass the law, Myers said, "Some drugs are illegal, but people
sneak out of the country to get drugs. I don't think it's my
responsibility to prepare for any eventuality. It's my job to set
policy for the state."

She added it was time to return to traditional values.

"We need to go back to where the family was the unit," Myers
said. "With these recent court decisions, we have created rights
for children. My parents were responsible for us until we were
18.

"There are those people who believe that an abortion should be
unimpeded in any matter, up to and including late-term abortion and
those are the same people who are against parental notification,"
she said.

State Sen. William Schluter, R-Hunterdon, said he voted for the
original parental notification law but is wary about opening up the
state Constitution to amendment. "I need to study all the legal
implications," he said.

"I'm pro-life and I'm in favor of parental notification not only
because I think it is the right of parents to know but because it
(abortion) is a procedure which may require parental involvement in
a medical decision."

Parents know the medical or emotional implications involved with
their own children better than a stranger would, he said.

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